I am receiving a great deal of peer pressure to become involved with this “Second Life” phenomenon, which Tim described to me as much like WoW but without the +12 longsword of dork and more artsy people. How many of you are involved in this mess, and why would it interest me?
Second Life
by John Cole| 60 Comments
This post is in: Previous Site Maintenance
Andrew
Do you like pyramid schemes? If so, it would interest you. Of course, so would Amway.
Andrew
That must be bizzaro me. The real Andrew only links to barbeque.
Also, I have heard of this cool simulation called “First Life” where you wake up and walk around and eat and drink and get laid, for reals yo.
mrsnrub
I don’t know anyone who’s ever tried it out. Sounds kinda dumb to me. If you’re not killing orcs, what’s the point?
DonkeyKong
No John, go get a girlfriend. More knob and buttons to play with than “Second Life”
Captain USA
“I also bought and broke down the — and it remains hard to believe I’m typing these words — erotic underground toilet that later sprang up to the west of my land, where I found two peculiar Italians whispering to each other that they could “probe things here.” To be fair, the female of the pair didn’t look so thrilled at the dubious things the built-in animations were going to make her do.”
“Eventually, something of a sex playground accreted around my land, catering for every fetish you can conceivably imagine. And the traffic was amazing. There was dozens of people in there at any one time, getting sexual relief from cats and what have you. I ended up selling that land, simply because the region ground to a crawl — that many people in a region at any one time puts a horrendous load on the server and everything happens very, very slowly. And no one needs to see a man getting sexual relief from a cat in slow motion. Trust me.”
from “Please stop doing that to the cat” by Warren Ellis
http://secondlife.reuters.com/stories/2007/02/23/second-life-sketches-please-stop-doing-that-to-the-cat/
Jon
I like Second Life because in the midst of an annoying workday, I can log in and experience complete solitude for a while.
No, really. There’s never anyone there except right around the start points. It’s kind of a debacle.
capelza
I loved the Myst/Riven games because there were NO people in them. I don’t need a “second life” with even more people!
sidereal
“why would it interest me?”
Well, if you’re a furry and/or a pedophile, sign right up. Otherwise, don’t bother. I have played a significant amount of WoW (and GW, Eve, etc) as well as SL and speak from experience.
Second Life is a 3D AOL chat room.
BSR
It’s past most of the hype, already yesterday’s fad. Jon’s right — it’s pretty desolate most of the time. There was just an article in Wired about how all the corporate shops that were being set up in there are finding nobody comes to their virtual stores. The only places getting lots of traffic are sex-related.
It’s also under an investigative cloud because organized crime figures seem to be starting to use it to launder real money, by exchanging it into 2nd Life cash, and back out.
I like DonkeyKong’s girlfriend idea. 2nd Girlfriend would be much more of a challenging game than 2nd Life could ever be!
Ned R.
John, I speak to you as a long-time reader and now recent fellow WordPress blogger — avoid Second Life at all costs. Utterly, utterly useless. A good friend has been essentially bulldozed into joining it as part of some advanced degree work and she’s been nothing but scornful of it, and from what I’ve seen all her complaints are justified.
cvcobb01
Aren’t you already wasting enough time here?
Rick Lee
I took a look. I went back daily for a week or so, but the graphics were pretty lame by modern video game standards and I didn’t find anything interesting going on. I assume that at one time there were lots of people interacting a lot… because I kept reading about people making real money designing clothes and houses, etc… and perhaps they are still there somewhere, but I didn’t see them.
ConservativelyLiberal
I ran an Until Uru (Uru: Ages Beyond Myst) server for about two and a half years. This was the public code that Cyan released to the fans to play with (which we still have… ;) . I hear rumors that there are still ‘underground’ servers, but now GameTap has picked up Uru Live, which is a continuation of the Myst game online. While the old ‘shards’ (as our servers were called) were a lot of fun due to the fan mods, the new incarnation of Uru Live plain sucks. There has not been a single significant puzzle that has to be solved, and what stuff there is seems like it was stuffed into a cannon and blasted into the game. No detailed storyline like the Myst games have.
I miss the good old days…
John, avoid ‘Second Life’ like the plague. I know some who are in it, and they were the sexual gamers who hung out on the old Uru shards. We chased them off, and they migrated to Second Life. I hear SL described as total anarchy, and if the people we chased off are any example, it is more like sexual anarchy. Plus, it is pretty much pointless as a game goes, IMO.
The Other Steve
I play games to blow shit up. I ain’t got no desire to talk to people.
over_educated
Just wait for Warhammer to come out… It’s going to be brilliant.
Jon H
The only value in Second Life is hearing descriptions of when some mainstream real-world organization tries to hold a serious press conference on 2nd Life, and hacker types shower the press conference with hundreds of giant falling penises.
But I have no interest in joining and waiting around for something like that to happen.
IanY77
Lots of stuff to do in theory, little to do in actuality.
If you’re already in WoW, not point in switching.
Don McArthur
Any initial interest will quickly wane. Much less there than meets the eye.
incontrolados
John, are you trying to find me a second, third or forth addiction?
One addiction has been cutailed because of STUPID vista.
I need a fix.
grumpy realist
Well, if we work on the assumption that by the time something gets mentioned in the NYTimes, it’s already passe….
Hmmm. Article in the NYTimes today about virtual houses and “settling down” in Second Life….
Need we say more?
Psycheout
If you like hacker nerds with nothing to do, go for it! Second Life should be retitled “Get a Life.”
incontrolados
Does Second Life involve looking for Jeffy?
Just asking.
It might influence me.
Dave
John, I got on Second life and turned it off in 10 minutes. What a waste of time. You just walk around, fly and do all kinds of stupid stuff… even get involved in “virtual parties.” Don’t waste your time or your hard-drive space.
jake
Or, you could hang out here and wait for a Brownbacker to overload your Irony-O-Meter so thoroughly it blacks out your entire neighborhood!
ConservativelyLiberal
I don’t know, but Phil Sharper is alive in Myst Online/Uru Live! Completely destroyed our theory that Kate was Phil with a sex change operation.
I need to shoot myself…
Dennis-SGMM
If you like writing UNIX shell scripts and live in your mom’s basement then you’ll love Second Life.
D. Mason
Sorry to hijack this ridiculously important thread but I’m very surprised that I haven’t heard anything about this guy calling for another 9/11 style terrorist attack on America. What the fuck. I don’t know who this Stu Bykofsky is but if I were his editor I would probably have my foot up his ass right now.
Fred F.
I tried it out a few months ago, put in maybe 40 hours total. It’s nothing like WoW, there’s no mission or really anything to do except meet people, dance and chat. The nice thing is people don’t beat around the bush, if they want to talk about sex it happens in the first minute. There are not many people there, you can fly all over the place and rarely see anyone, or they’re all engaged in some activity that costs money (I played as a total free loader so I did limit myself in that sense). It’s vast, I’m guessing I saw less than 1% and searching, using your avatar or textually is useless. About a 1/4 of the people I met were total dicks but that might be norm outside of 2nd life as well. I could see the appeal once you’re “in” and part of a small network. My motive was to actually find a pub hangout to shoot the shit, thinking I could find more varied discourse than at my local pub, but I couldn’t find a pub nor people who actually felt like getting into somewhat deep discussions. Most of them were superficial and along the “do you like this” line of questioning.
But, to each his own, it didn’t grab me so I bailed.
D. Mason
Sorry to hijack this ridiculously important thread but I’m very surprised that I haven’t heard anything about this guy calling for another 9/11 style terrorist attack on America. What the fuck.
Krista
In the grand scheme of things, it boils down to being a large, varied series of chat rooms. However, it is rather neat in that you have an actual physical representation of yourself that can interact with the people you meet on there. (Plus there is something to be said for being able to alter one’s appearance at will. If I wanted to, on SL, I could be a 7-foot tall blonde with angel wings. There is something rather fun about that.) It’s obviously not for everybody (from the scornful comments I’ve seen on here), but I have found it kind of neat in that I’ve run into a few others from Balloon-Juice on there. It’s not like I’d ever run into them in real life, but it’s as close as one can get. Plus, if you can imagine it, you can do it, which always has a certain allure. As one who dwells in the sticks, the idea of being able to virtually attend a live concert, an art opening, go to a pub, learn how to pole dance, and hit the beach, all in one day — well, it can be quite diverting. But, like any real-life activity, anything can be boring if you don’t have friends with you. If you get to know (or already know) lots of people on there, you’ll have fun. If you don’t, you likely won’t. Anyway, if you’re interested in checking it out, let me know, and we’ll show you around.
jnfr
If you want to look at SL, it’s free, so no reason not to if your computer will run it. I have had an account for ages, but in all honesty have not found much there to interest me.
But this year there was a Second Life convention that ran live feeds from YearlyKos, and a bunch of us were there together, and that was actually a lot of fun. We could watch the panels and hang out commenting together, sharing background info and snarking. Plus we had great dances at night.
I really think the problem with a non-game virtual world is that you have to find people you want to hang out with, without the goals and quests and whatnot that games give you for guidance.
So probably you won’t enjoy it. But you never know. Maybe you’re a furry at heart.
Jon H
“I have a girlfriend on Second Life” is the new “I have a girlfriend who lives in Canada”.
Sirkowski
Smoking is cool too.
Hyperion
jesus, are you still in high school?
that’s the last time i felt i was receiving a great deat of peer pressure.
capelza
Hahahahaaa…I have absolutely no idea what any of that means, but it cracks me up.
There’s an interactive Myst online? Bummer, way to kill that feeling I got when I first played the orginal Myst. I loved being ALONE in cool spaces, figuring out what was going on and just enjoying the space.
My kid was into Everquest (he acutally made money on that and WoW..selling his skills or whatever it was..600.00 bucks once!), I watched it a few times, and was completely uninterested. Plus I do NOT enjoy blowing shit up or killing people/things..so yawn for me.
The only thing I liked about him playing those games was the contacts he made around the world. Kids from China, Africa, South America and one from the…a little story. He comes running out of his room and asks me (because he is painfully geographically challenged) where “Kazack”..his pronuncitation, was. So I assumed he meant Kazakhstan (this was pre Borat) and told him where it was. He went back to his comp and then yelled “No that’s not it!”. So I get up and go in there to see and the boy he was talking to was from the “CZECH” Republic.
Not a big deal, except that our(his) last name is Czech. :(
grumpy realist
Dunno if this link will work…. (Article from Wall Street on how obsessed some people can get with the virtual world)
http://biz.yahoo.com/wallstreet/070810/sb118670164592393622_id.html?.v=6
(If you want to be an entrepreneur, I suggest trying to do it in the real world. You’re spending almost as much effort doing it in the virtual world as you do in reality and getting bupkis in payment. On the other hand, this may be a good way for people to train themselves in a skill before carrying it out in reality. I do wonder however how much carries over….negotiation skills, maybe. Athletics? Not bloody likely.)
Rome Again
I agree with Andrew, first life sounds much more interesting. Now if I could just figure out how to get one.
Jane Finch
Well! I hate to break up all the negativity here (except Krista..hi Krista!), but I’m Jane2 McMcahon in SL and invite any of you to contact me and I’ll show you around, including a tour of Jesus Generals’ Rudy Giuliani 2008 Campaign HQ and the Wellstone Memorial Cafe.
I’ve been in SL for five months and love it. Yes, I dance perfectly, could have a Barbie figure, own great shoes and ten ballgowns, skydive, shoot my nuclear nipple cannon, live on virtual land with a yak ranch, attend the Church of Elvis weekly, listen to live music (all of which I do), have pixelated sex and play Gorean master/slave (all of which I dont), etc. etc. etc
But it’s all about the social relationships for me, and I’m sure WoW shares that aspect. Chatrooms (and blog comments) are black & white tv; SL is hi-def colour.
Example: I volunteered for YKSL (Yearly Kos in Second Life) not because I’m the greatest fan of Kos, but because I believe virtual worlds have great capacity for building networks and essentially democratizing discourse in a society that is dominated by special interests and national media that chooses the debate (Paris Hilton, anyone?). And it was fabulous: 150 people (avatars) registered and did exactly what I thought they’d do..learn to move/dress themselves and then dive in to meeting and talking and energizing other people. You CAN change the world and dance at the same time. Those people are still in SL looking to do more.
I also belong to RL Government in SL and have joined networks of public agencies with enough imagination to still want to actively reach people where they are. It’s too new to know where that will all go, but it’s great to watch it develop.
Through YKSL, I met pb..and through pb, Krista. How cool is that! Yesterday, TimF visited the Yak Ranch and while he was a little perturbed at my impaling sticks, and loved the cow in the boat, he seemed to think a Steelers party on the beach would be a fine idea.
So that’s my challenge to you, JC. Join SL and we will endeavour to decorate the place up in Steeler regalia, stream in a Steelers game for you and your readers (with a surprise special guest) and throw a party on the adjacent dance floor (complete with pole left over from an enlightened Kos libtard).
And if the SL crack doesn’t hook you, then you can go back to WoW and bore yourself silly!
Ned R.
I appreciate your unbridled enthusiasm but I feel like the Jehovah’s Witnesses stopped by for a visit. (Or if you prefer, Amway.)
Jane Finch
Ned, if I left the impression that is my only activity, or that it is a religion, that simply is not true. You can get the downside (and there is a downside) from the other 30 comments.
scarshapedstar
Second Life is a game where people who dress up in animal suits to masturbate in real life create little virtual worlds where they pretty much do the same thing, except they also have virtual S&M dungeons.
Face
I’m speechless. Your tool-ness is shining through. Why not grab your mountain bike and bike down to masonville?
That just about made me ralph. People actually do this shit?
Krista
It’s not for everybody, but I really don’t see why you guys are being so nasty about it. I don’t enjoy watching football, but am certainly not going to go on a thread about football and start trashing both the game and those who have the temerity to enjoy it.
I enjoy SL, and I mentioned it to John and Tim, ’cause I thought there might be other people here who might be interested, and thought it might actually be fun for a bunch of us Balloon-Juicers to have a SL party, shoot the shit, and get to know each other a little better as people.
Anyway, I’m not going to say any more, ’cause I’m already in a bad mood (my apartment flooded the other day and all of my Christmas decorations were ruined, along with some books that my boyfriend’s late uncle gave him), but I’m really surprised at the attitudes of some people here, who I always thought were a bit more open-minded about things.
John Cole
Krista,
I tried to download it and could not figure out where to do it. There was some sort of sponsorship thing.
IM me and help me figure this thing out.
And the rest of you be nice.
John Cole
Ok. I installed it.
My toon is Schaivo Melnik. I looke like a 16 year old boy on his way to a U2 concert.
I can not figure out any of the controls.
Jane Finch
JC, love the name! Will add you…and avoid crap mariner at all costs.
The Disenfranchised Voter
WoW > Second Life
It’s not even close, ignore the peer pressure.
Frank
For what it’s worth, I can’t even keep up with First Life.
Psycheout
Second Life is not here on earth and is not in the virtual world of debauchery. It is with our Lord Jesus Christ. Shut down the computer and crack open a Bible. SL is a distraction from real life.
I will pray for you, my dear.
Laurence Simon
*shrug* weirdos naming islands after dead cats… nutcase cultists… *grumble*
Where’s the Kool Aid?
John Cole
I am not sure what scares me more. The idea that you are a spoof and do this full time, or that you are real.
demimondian
I have bad new for you, John.
I think he’s real.
b-psycho
If you like your screen to freeze, go ahead.
grumpy realist
Funny, I’ve always considered religious nuts running around waving the Bible in other people’s faces to be using it as an excuse to get away from reality as well…
Especially the nut who accosts you on the street or on your doorstep screaming: “Have you found Jesus Christ?!”
No, and I don’t want to. Get away, go get a real job, get a real life, and stop bothering decent people who only want to be left alone.
(I’m one of those people who think any type of proselytizing aside from “lead by example of one’s own life” should be considered like any other type of assault. We should have the right of self-defense and be able to consider the attack to be Much More Serious than any physical assault, since it’s an attempt to corrupt our souls, which last longer than the body, right?)
Krista
All right John, I just added you on as a friend. Try not to laugh too hard when you see what name I’m using… ;)
Hyperion
are they being nasty in some new way?
seems like the same old shit to me.
TenguPhule
Seriously, these people have no lives to start with
I’m sorry, I got nothing.
Dylan
I was at a Gartner conference recently and one of the speakers (a longtime Gartner analyst) was bigging up SL saying how great it was and how things like that were going to revolutionize stuff in the future.
I’ve gotta say, I’m not sure whether I was surprised or not. It *was* Gartner, after all.
Bombadil
Don’t know if anyone is still following this thread, but this might sway John a bit.
Wendy
This is the most amusing blog I have read yet. The thing about sl, it’s supposed to be a sl. Whatever you want to do. So if you want to hang out then do it, if you want to make money then do it, if you want to masterbate behind a pc then so be it. Not that I would, but I’m not going to critisize you for it. I will however lmao in your face if you approach me with it or really embarass you more than you want to be. I even got married and divorced. lol. Should have taken him to sl court. Maybe I’ll make one and be the judge. The point of that is, it is fantasy. So make something up. Use your imagination. :) It’s all about fun no matter whether your blowing things up or what. :) And there are some strong ass watermellon guns that are great fun when your bored in the club you work…. Wendys Jewell